


It Takes a Man

by sarahbeara2010



Category: Justin Bieber (Musician)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 21:30:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahbeara2010/pseuds/sarahbeara2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Any fool can make a baby. But it takes a man to raise a child."</p><p>~Chris Young</p><p>***Based on the song 'It Takes a Man,' by Chris Young***</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Takes a Man

**Author's Note:**

> This story has also been published on www.justinbieberfanfiction.com.
> 
> Enjoy!! ")

**_I_ It Takes a Man**

_She locked her fingers and bowed her head. She said, "I'm late, and I'm really scared. Now, you can go, but I hope you stay. I'm gonna keep it either way."_

She sat across from me in the passenger seat, her tense fingers locked and her head bowed as she nervously chewed on her bottom lip. Obviously, there was something really big and important weighing on her mind. And I was kind of getting the vibe that she was afraid to tell me whatever it was.

"Tori..." I prompted gently, reaching over to run my fingers through her hair. "What's up? I mean, you sounded really urgent over the phone...and I can definitely tell that you're really worked up right now. And you know that whatever it is won't make me love you any less or look down on you or anything like that. So, come on, babe. Spill."

After a few moments of silence, she slowly raised her head to meet my gaze and cleared her throat slightly. "I'm...I'm late," she informed me quietly.

At first, I didn't really get what she meant. Then, as I sat there looking at her with my brow furrowed, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I gasped, and my jaw practically hit the floorboard as my eyes grew wide. " _Oh_. You mean..."

"Exactly," she confirmed, knowing what I had been about to say. "I was supposed to start last week. And I'm _never_ late--no matter what."

I just sat there in silence for a moment, my mind screaming an old analogy that I'd heard from my father. _Late is to period as pregnant is to girl_. With that thought hanging over my head like a bubble in a cartoon comic strip, I cleared my throat to reply. So...you...I mean...are you...?"

"I don't know." She read my mind once again, looking at me with fear in her eyes. "I haven't tested yet. But I'm really scared that I might be."

She paused for a moment, biting down on her lower lip and casting her eyes downward. "If I _am_..." she paused for a moment longer, returning her gaze to mine, "you can leave. I mean, I know you have big dreams, and a baby would just complicate things. I would understand if you wanted to walk away. Obviously, though, I would love for you to stay. If there _is_ a baby coming, I want him or her to have a family to come to. And I would also really like for the baby to have your last name. Whether you stay or go, it's our child...and I'm going to keep it."

_In my daddy's El Camino in her driveway in the rain, staring through that windshield, I could see my future change. And my heart hit like a hammer, and my thoughts were running wild. Any fool can make a baby. But it takes a man to raise a child._

I never imagined myself being seventeen years old and having to face the prospect of becoming a father. I had always figured that all of my child-related adventures wouldn't begin until I was a married twenty-something ( _late_ twenties, that is) with a successful music career who was actually _ready_ to have kids. But there I was...sitting in my father's car in my girlfriend's driveway and triyng to contemplate the possibility of having helped create a new life.

The sound of the pouring rain suddenly seemed so loud, almost matching the decibel of my hammer-like heartbeat. My thoughts were running absolutely wild as I sat there staring through the windshield at the soaking wet world outside. I could practically see my whole future change right there in front of my eyes. All of those dreams I'd had about becoming some big-time pop musician and traveling the world (with Tori right there by my side, of course) seemed to fade away.

The music business was a dog-eat-dog world...and there was always that chance that I would never make it. And if that happened, I would have some pretty serious issues with providing for my family. Tori wanted to be a journalist, a pretty decent-paying career choice. Still, though...babies need more than one income. I would probably have to abandon my dream of music, decide on a more practical career, and go to college...all the while working just about every job I could get my hands on.

Ever since I taught myself how to play the drums when I was just two years old, music had been my dream. And not to sound conceited or anything, but...well...I just happened to be really, really awesome at it. I busked around town, I played local gigs, I had a YouTube channel, I had a music Facebook page...and all of that stuff was getting a whole lot of positive attention. Everybody seemed to think that I really and truly did have a future in music...and no other kind of future had ever seemed so completely enticing to me.

But now, it was all at risk. All because of one stupid mistake. I'm not trying to say that having sex with Tori was stupid, because I couldn't have been happier to lose my virginity to her. The stupid part was the timing. Both of us had planned on saving ourselves for marriage, but one night, things just felt too right, and it was just too hard to stop. And then, there was the _stupidest_ part of the whole thing. We had neglected one very important little element. _Protection_. And now...our futures were on the line.

_I laid my head down on the wheel. She said, "I know. I know. It don't seem real." She closed her eyes, but the tears flowed through. She said, "Don't hate me for loving you."_

I laid my head down on the steering wheel, my mind still reeling as I struggled to make myself believe that this was seriously happening; that it wasn't just some nightmare that I would eventually wake up from and wind up laughing about with Tori. This was reality...and laughter was nowhere to be found.

"It doesn't seem real, does it?" Tori's soft voice broke the silence that had fallen over the two of us. She sighed, her gaze out the window, watching the rain as she continued to speak. "I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up any second now and tell you about the crazy nightmare that I had, and we're just going to laugh about it."

She paused for a moment, and even though her face was turned away from mine, I could tell that she was on the verge of tears. Sure enough, when she turned to face me, her eyes were glistening. "I just...I want you to know that whether I'm pregnant or not...I still love you."

She stopped speaking once again, closing her eyes, but not stopping the tears from flowing down her cheeks. "Please don't hate me for it, Justin," she begged, her voice just barely above a whisper. "Don't hate me for loving you."

_In my daddy's El Camino in her driveway in the rain, staring through that windshield, I could see my future change. And my heart hit like a hammer, and my thoughts were running wild. Any fool can make a baby. But it takes a man to raise a child._

I could _never_ hate Tori. _Especially_ not for loving me. She was pretty much my biggest fan--always dancing and singing along and cheering at every single show, wearing one of the assorted custom T-shirts that she had made. I had always found that really flattering and sweet--she made a different shirt for every show. Her love and support meant the _world_ to me, and I didn't even want to _imagine_ my life without her in it. I loved her with all of my heart, and I knew for a fact that she loved me just as much.

And now, the love that we shared had our futures hanging in the balance. In the heat of a moment, that love had caused us to toss aside our sanities and dive headfirst into something that neither one of us was really ready for. Just because we were in love didn't mean that we were ready to lose our virginities. We were learning very quickly that we had most definitely _not_ been ready. The scariest thing to think about was that we might possibly be on the verge of going through a pregnancy, labor, delivery, and becoming parents...which were all more experiences that we were not prepared to deal with.

This is probably the part of the story where the guy would throw the girl out of the car and drive off into the night, the tires squealing and the engine roaring as he made a break for it, never to be seen or heard from by the girl ever again. Sitting there with her, I knew that I had every opportunity to do just that--run away and save my dreams. Tori had even given me permission and said that she would understand.

However, I didn't _want_ to run away. I didn't _want_ to leave Tori to be pregnant and raise a baby on her own. I knew that her family would have helped her every step of the way, but that's not the way that it's supposed to be. Plus, I wanted to be a part of that baby's life. True, they were coming at a pretty inconvenient time, but it wasn't their fault. Furthermore, that baby was my first son or daughter...and I loved him or her already.

_Oh, I could not reassure her. I couldn't say what I had planned; couldn't put three words together. So, I just took her hand._

The soft sound of Tori's weeping brought me out of my thoughts and back to reality. I turned my head to see her sitting there with her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried.

"I'm so sorry, Justin," she choked out through her tears. "I'm _so_ sorry that this is happening."

I didn't respond. Well, let me rephrase that. I _couldn't_ respond. I knew what I wanted to say. I wanted to tell her that I would be right there with her every single step of the way--regardless of whether she was pregnant or not. I wanted to tell her that we would get through this together and that everything was going to be okay. And most of all and most importantly...I wanted to tell her that I loved her.

The words were right there on the tip of my tongue, but for some reason, my mind just couldn't convince my mouth to put it all forward. So, I did the only other thing that I knew to do. I reached out and gently removed one of her hands from her face, intertwining her fingers with  mine and giving them a gentle squeeze.

_In my daddy's El Camino in her driveway in the rain, staring through that windshield, I could see my future change. And my heart hit like a hammer, and my thoughts were running wild. Any fool can make a baby. But it takes a man to raise a child._

She looked at me through a veil of tears, and I could see fear in her eyes.

"Don't be scared, shawty," I told her softly, stroking her hand with my thumb. I bit down on my lower lip, feeling tears begin to sting my eyes. I drew in a deep breath before continuing to speak. "I'm not leaving you. Whether you turn out to be pregnant or not, I'm going to be right here with you through everything. It's all going to be okay."

I paused for a moment longer, the tears starting to slip from my eyes as I leaned over and took her into my arms. "I love you, Tori."

"Oh, Justin," she breathed, wrapping her arms around me in return as she, too, continued to cry. "I love you, too. And I'm so glad that I can count on you."

"Of _course_ you can count on me," I reassured her, kissing her forehead and running my hand through her hair. "I wouldn't _dream_ of leaving you. Plus, I know that this experience is going to make us both better people. I mean, if it turns out that you're not pregnant, then this will show us to be more responsible and not get so caught up in the moment. And if it turns out that you _are_ pregnant, then our dreams of getting married and having a family together will just come true a little bit earlier. And we'll just learn how to deal with God's unexpected blessings."

"I think we'll be okay," Tori responded, pulling back from the hug a little bit and smiling at me slightly. "I really and truly do. I'm young, and I know it's hard to be a mom when you're young. But at the same time, I'm not really too worried...because if I _am_ pregnant, I at least know that I have you to help me. Any fool can make a baby...but it takes a man to raise a child."

She paused for a moment, her smile growing slightly wider as she hugged me once more. "And _you_ , Justin Bieber, are the _best_ man that any woman could ever ask for."


End file.
